The present invention relates to a portfolio system and, more importantly, to a business organizer-type portfolio designed to hold a variety of information for a business person.
One of the most difficult on-going tasks faced by a business person is information management. Among the information a business person must manage and organize is information relating to appointments, expenses, addresses and telephone numbers, business cards, and general information relating to clients and customers.
A wide variety of devices exist that help the business person organize and manage this material. For example, THE COMPLETE OFFICE SUPPLY 1989 OFFICE SUPPLIES CATALOG, distributed by Complete Office Supply, Inc., of Indianapolis, Ind., discloses a wide variety of currently available information management devices. At pages 247 through 259, THE COMPLETE OFFICE SUPPLY CATALOG shows a variety of rotary files, v-files, and card files useful for recording names and addresses. Among the files shown are various models of ROLODEX brand files. At pages 260 through 276, the catalog discloses a variety of desk-top list finders, address/telephone books, personal reference books, reference organizers, scrapbooks and albums.
In this regard, particular attention is directed to the DAY RUNNER reference organizer shown at page 272 of THE COMPLETE OFFICE SUPPLY CATALOG, and at page 788 of the 1989 OFFICE PRODUCTS CATALOG distributed CIRCLE OFFICE SUPPLIES, INC., of Indianapolis, Ind. The DAY RUNNER organizer comprises a three-ring binder and inserts, placeable in the binder that can hold a variety of business materials in an organized manner.
Other information management tools shown in THE COMPLETE OFFICE SUPPLY CATALOG include the calendars, reminder books, and diaries, shown on pages 285-326 and the catalog cases, attache cases, portfolios, briefcases, ring binders, pad holders, and business cases shown at pages 910-932.
Although all of the various devices discussed above perform their intended function to one extent or another, room for improvement exists.
One of the difficulties faced by a business person is to have an information management system that is sufficiently complete and large enough to be able to hold all the information necessary, while still not being so large that the system is unwieldy. The problem of unwieldiness may not be that acute with those who are "office bound" and thus have enough room to store all the various pads, diaries, books, and card files necessary. However, persons such as salesmen who spend the majority of their time out of the office have a greater need for an easily portable, non-cumbersome portfolio system.
One difficulty with many known prior art devices is that those devices large enough to hold the materials that a business person wants to keep with him are often too large to fit easily within a breast pocket or purse. Although a salesman may have a desire to have all the information he needs to conduct his business at his finger tips, it is rather inconvenient to carry around a large number of books, such as calendar books, address books, and note books from place to place. It would be especially desirable to have a single organizer for organizing all of a business person's currently needed information that was sufficiently small in size to enable the business person to carry it with him in a jacket pocket or small purse. As will also be appreciated, a note book or organizer that cannot fit into a pocket or purse stands a greater chance of being lost or misplaced by the business person than one which is small enough to keep with him in his breast pocket or her purse.
Conversely, those known devices that are small enough to fit within a breast pocket or purse are usually not large enough to serve as a repository for all of the information and materials needed by the business person on a current basis. As will be appreciated, this inability to hold all desired information adversely affects the functionality and desirability of these known pocket-sized portfolio systems.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a portfolio device that is capable of containing the business person's needed materials, but which is small enough to be easily carried by the business person.